JACKSON, MI – There’s hardly anything more welcome this time of year than the sight of sprouting seedlings.

And tucked away in the greenhouse at the Middle School at Parkside is a green garden of growing plants that have students excited about the bounty of vegetables they could produce.

“I didn’t even know how to grow plants until we started this,” said 13-year-old eighth-grader John Cusson-Walker. “It’s fun, and it’s food we can eat.”

The project started Jan. 17 as part of this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service. Allie Genia, Jackson’s service learning coordinator for The League Michigan, assisted students in planting trays of vegetable seeds. The students were in the classes of teachers from Connie Myers, Lindsey Psychas and Dawn Wagner.

With a $200 grant and donations from Tractor Supply Co., 2805 Springport Road, and The Hobbit Place, 6000 Spring Arbor Road, students are growing watermelon, squash, pepper, broccoli, onion, cucumber, tomato and lettuce plants that soon will be transplanted to larger containers.

“It’s been a great hands-on lesson,” Myers said. “Kids need to get out of the classroom and experience some things themselves. It’s a real-life application of the lessons we teach in the classroom.”

Besides caring for the plants, students measure them to chart growth, discuss the growing cycle and learn about scientific processes like photosynthesis.

The project also is breathing new life into Parkside’s greenhouse, which hasn’t been used for in-school lessons in at least a couple of years, Genia said.

“It’s really good to get it up and running again and see it used,” she said.

Twenty-five percent of the vegetables harvested will be given to Jackson’s Interfaith Shelter as part of The League’s philanthropy education component that strives to build character and empower young people to “do good” in their community.

“I like that,” said 13-year-old eighth-grader Cheyenne Mayle. “We can help people who haven’t got food so they can eat.”

The rest of the produce will be used in Parkside’s cafeteria in student lunches and snacks, Genia said.

“We’re teaching kids that gardening is fun, but it’s also a very useful skill,” she said. “We hope this is a project we can keep going from now on, even in the summer.”